Formally Recognized:
1992/05/12

Other Name(s)

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1927/01/01 to 1928/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register:
2008/01/09

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

Constructed in 1927-1928, St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church is located in Perth at 1 Drummond Street West at the corner of North Street, and was constructed to replace the first Presbyterian Church at the corner of Drummond and Craig which burned down in 1923. This Gothic Revival structure stands as a part of the impressive streetscape of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century stone houses and churches in Perth.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church has been recognized for its heritage value by the Town of Perth on 12 May 1992, By-law 2979.

Heritage Value

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church was built in the Gothic Revival design. Designed by Cecil Burgess and constructed by Stewart Christie and Sons, Contractors, the structure has an exterior of stone with fine stained glass windows which were subscribed by individual members of the church. The building had a strong relationship with the large number of Scottish Presbyterians who settled the Perth area in the early 1820s.

Constructed to replace a pre-existing structure which was destroyed by fire on 11 March 1923, the church possesses the original church bell from the First Presbyterian Church (which amalgamated with St. Andrews in 1857) salvaged from that structure when it burned in 1867. Pledges were raised to pay for the construction of the new church, but with the onset of the Depression many of those pledges were not honoured. However, a mortgage from Dominion Life Insurance and a bank loan from the Royal Bank assisted in financing the church's construction costs until the pledges were honoured some time after the end of the Depression. Evoking Perth's Scottish Presbyterian heritage,

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church has been an important place for worship in the community and stands as a memorial to the community's first Scottish Presbyterian minister, Rev. William Bell, who preached the word of God from 1817 to 1857 with abundant zeal to Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans and those of any denomination who sought spiritual guidance in the young developing land of Eastern Ontario.

Source: Town of Perth By-law 2979; Heritage Perth.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that define St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church's heritage value include its: - construction of cut stone - fine stained glass window treatments - massive bell tower, which contains the original bell of the first church, and reaches the height of the main body roof - extended roof areas to accommodate two transepts - orientation among a series of nineteenth and twentieth-century stone houses and churches in downtown Perth.